10 Things the Internet has Ruined and Five Things it Hasn't
For some people, the Internet is the killer app--literally. From newspapers and the yellow pages to personal privacy and personal contact, the Net has been accused of murdering, eviscerating, ruining, and obliterating more things than the Amazing Hulk. Some claims are more true than others, but the Net certainly has claimed its share of scalps.
Thu, April 15, 2010
PC World — For some people, the Internet is the killer app--literally. From newspapers and the yellow pages to personal privacy and personal contact, the Net has been accused of murdering, eviscerating, ruining, and obliterating more things than the Amazing Hulk. Some claims are more true than others, but the Net certainly has claimed its share of scalps.
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Here are ten things the Net is making virtually extinct, plus five that have flourished.
1. Trust in Encyclopedias
When I was a kid, if something was in the Encyclopedia Britannica (or even Grolier's), it was true. Now--thanks to Wikipedia--having "encyclopedic knowledge" of a topic isn't as impressive when there's a good chance most of what you think you know was concocted by a 12-year-old. After a 2005 study by the British journal Nature showed Britannica and Wikipedia to be equally inaccurate, faith in all encyclopedias plummeted. Britannica attacked that study's methodology as "fatally flawed," but it was too late.
Also dead: trust in studies of encyclopedias.
2. Barroom Arguments
It used to be you could kill many hours and even more brain cells drinking beer and arguing over arcane trivia. Who was a more fearsome slugger, Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron? Who'd win a one-on-one match between Kobe Bryant and Doctor J? (Sorry Kobe--we love ya man, but in 1972 the Doc was unstoppable.) Now whenever there's a question of fact, somebody just whips out a smartphone and does a search on Google (GOOG) or dials up Wolfram Alpha and runs a statistical analysis. Where's the fun in that?
3. Your Old Flame
No matter the state of your current relationship, it used to be possible to escape for a few minutes by pining for the one(s) that got away. In your mind, they're just as hot as they were decades ago when they were captain of the football team or homecoming queen. But now they're on Facebook. Guess what? Assuming their pictures are current, they're just as old and fat as you are.
The good news? You might not care. There's a reason Facebook was named as a contributing cause in 20 percent of divorces last year. And be careful whom you poke; British researchers noted a rise in sexually transmitted diseases due in part, they said, to people hooking up on social networks.
4. Civil Discourse
The niceties of polite disagreement are mostly dead, thanks to the Internet. Rudeness and name-calling have devolved into forms of entertainment; entire sites are devoted just to cataloging flame wars. Artist Mike Reed has caricatured the various breeds of online forum jerks for this very Website. And though you may find some some discussion boards and community sites that still encourage good manners and penalize offenders, they are becoming increasingly rare.
